AKIPRESS.COM - Quebec's separatist party faces doubts about its very survival after voters solidly rejected the main purpose of its existence – making the French-speaking province an independent country, The Seattle Times reported.

Voters ousted the Parti Quebecois from power in provincial legislative elections largely centered on the independence debate. The PQ got just 25 percent of the popular vote in Monday's election, its worst showing since it first participated in elections in 1970, shortly after its founding with the explicit goal of breaking away from Canada.

It was a shocking blow for a party that took power in a minority government just 18 months ago. The Liberals had led the province for nine years, but suffered from corruption allegations.

The Quebec Liberals came away with the majority in Monday's vote, winning 70 seats in the 125-member National Assembly.

With only 30 seats in the legislature, the PQ now faces four years in opposition to ponder its future. Everything from its leftist ideology to its proposed secular charter is up in the air.

Quebec's identity has been contentious since the 1760s when the British completed their takeover of what was then called New France. In the 1960s, the Parti Quebecois was formed under the leadership of a TV commentator-turned-politician named Rene Levesque, who would go on to rule the province for nine years.

Quebec, which is 80 percent French-speaking, has plenty of autonomy already. The province of 8.1 million sets its own income tax, has its own immigration policy favoring French speakers, and has legislation prioritizing French over English. Twice, voters have rejected sovereignty, though only by a razor-thin margin in a 1995 referendum.

In recent years support for independence has fallen, and the PQ has headed a Quebec government for just 18 months out of the past decade.